Charlotte-area tornado touched down during Thursday’s severe weather, NWS confirms
A tornado struck Gaston County during severe storms that raced across the Charlotte region Thursday evening, a National Weather Service survey team confirmed Friday.
The EF0 tornado touched down near Old Willis School Road, 2 miles southwest of the town of Stanley, according to a report by the weather service. EFO is the weakest of six tornado classifications on the Enhanced Fujita Scale for wind intensity and damage.
The tornado packed 75-mph winds as it tracked east for 6.09 miles, crossing N.C. 27 on the south side of Stanley, the team found.
Trees were damaged before the tornado dissipated just east of Stanley-Lucia Road, according to the NWS report. The tornado was 25 yards wide, officials said.
No injuries were reported, NWS meteorologists said.
2 South Carolina tornadoes confirmed
On Friday night, survey teams also confirmed two EF1 tornadoes in South Carolina during Thursday’s storms.
One touched down in Greenwood County, 80 miles northwest of Columbia.
The 90-mph tornado knocked large trees onto multiple homes as it carved a 2-mile path before dissipating near the runway at Greenwood Airport, according to a report by the team.
No one was hurt, NWS officials said.
A tornado also struck Joanna, an unincorporated community in Laurens County, 57 miles northwest of Columbia.
The tornado knocked trees onto houses and damaged a car wash and a fire station garage door, NWS survey team members reported. The tornado dissipated in Sumter National Forest, officials said.
No delays with radar out
The NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, experienced a radar outage last month, forcing the office to call in extra meteorologists on Thursday to track the severe weather, NWS meteorologist Bill Martin said.
The office relied on radar at the NWS Columbia office, at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and the Atlanta NWS office, Martin said.
Martin said he wasn’t aware of any delays in the Greer office issuing severe-thunderstorm and tornado alerts in the Charlotte area on Thursday.
Mecklenburg and surrounding counties were under a tornado watch for several hours Thursday afternoon and night before severe thunderstorms that could have spawned them swept to the east.
Just after 6:30 p.m., the NWS lifted a tornado warning for Huntersville in northern Mecklenburg County, Lowesville in eastern Lincoln County and Mount Holly, Stanley and Dallas in Gaston County.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 5:10 PM.